Hands-on workshop takes preventative tact
Aging work force is a factor
Don Burkhart, CSP, senior safety engineer for BP in Wamsutter, WY, is a strong supporter of the MoveSMART program. At first, however, he had difficulty selling it to BP.
"Part of the problem was that we never had many accidents in handling materials, and no back injuries," he recalls. "What we did have was an aging work force (average age of 45). Our concern was to give our overall work force the skills and tools to cope with getting older, so that when the employees retire, they do so with full use of their bodies."
Burkhart has been in the safety field for more than 30 years, has seen work safety programs come and go, and has an admittedly jaundiced eye. "MoveSMART impressed me because it’s almost all hands-on and it’s very work-related," he explains.
He finally convinced management to give it a try, and the first training session took place in August 1999 — not only for his 87 workers, but also for the entire business unit, which includes 300-400 workers in Houston.
"They came in and trained us, then took a specific number of people and spread them throughout the business unit," he says. "They gave workers real skills they could use on the job, and people really took to it."
Positive feedback from workers
Burkhart says he has gotten a lot of very positive feedback from workers in the field. "Even today, people will say things like, I did that using smart hands,’ or I know I must use the center of power when I do this.’"
Burkhart likes to tell the story of an office worker whose daughter is slightly disabled. "She told me that these techniques made it so much easier for her to move her daughter around, and that the techniques helped her daughter, as well," he notes. "If nothing else came out of the program, that made it worthwhile."
In the larger Houston office, no back problems have been reported among employees who participated in the program. "We work with a lot of contractors, and we’re trying to push them down this road, too," says Burkhart.
Burkhart recognizes that safety techniques must be constantly reinforced. "Each month at our safety meeting we practice one technique, so we keep it fresh," he says. "And as new people join the company, they are given the entire class."
• Don Burkhart, BP, P.O. Box 157, Wamsutter, WY 82336. Telephone: (307) 328-3725.
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